Billabong Pulls Out Of Chicago Retail Location
josh hunter
- November 03 2008
- 798 views
- 8 comments
According to a report from Chicago Business on November 3, Billabong has decided to pull out of plans to open a 15,000 square-foot flagship retail location in Chicago’s former Carson Pirie Scott & Price building on State Street.
Also pulling out of the space is gourmet grocer Fox & Obel. Together, the two were to fill more than 20% of the three story space. According to the article, a new mall location at Block 37 scheduled to open next year is part of the growing challenges that the Carson site is facing.
The articles says that Billabong is now considering a smaller location at Block 37.
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November 4th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Smart, this store could have become a huge money pit in this economy and why the hell Chicago it like 2000 miles from both oceans? Also I bet they are going to sit on the sidelines and see how their other friends fair who have ventured in to the retail right before this economic storm. Shareholders should be stoked on this move.
November 4th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I know a few people who will be disappointed. Even though Chi-Town may be far away from an ocean, people do surf the Lake, not to mention the skiers and skaters.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
And now another close minded kooks insight - on the limited geography of surf and its cultural influence (see above). A clear representation of the problem that most surf companies face…
The consistent belief that if you do not reside on either coast… you CANNOT honestly be interested in surfing, the heritage or lifestyle it represents???
It is a big world out there slim shady - and in the United States, most of the meat is in the middle of the sandwich. Kids all over this country love Action Sports. You going to tell them they do not have the right to aspire to become a surfer because of where they were born? Much less buy a sweatshirt?
And as Hostel Board Co so aptly pointed out… Yes people do surf on the Lake wind swell.
November 4th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Amazing that this is a discussion about a surf company… from top to bottom. “Shareholders should be stoked on this move”, “Chicago Flagship Store”, “Meat Is In The Middle Of The Sandwich”….. ha ha ha, what the… Thanks for all the feedback corpo surf police.
November 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
What? I just think it strange that a surf/snowboard company would put it’s flagship store in middle america where there are no mountains. Hey I know people surf the great lakes, but man it like once in a blue moon you get a decent swell and there are only a hand full of people that do it not enought to support a retail space of 15ooo sq feet. Obviously bong had second thought about it and are opening a shop in a small space.
November 5th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I ment the shareholder thing to be a tounge in check thing…it was lame attempt at being sarcastic.
November 5th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
billabong is a kooky surf brand, skaters generally don’t care for it. good move.
August 14th, 2009 at 5:12 am
They are actually opening a store at water tower. Which is so much better than carsons